123 New Gun Laws Since the Parkland School Shooting
Russ Chastain 02.25.19
If you’ve ever wondered whether your right to own a firearm is truly in jeopardy, perhaps this will help. A recent article in the Tampa Bay Times lists every gun law passed in the USA during the 364 days immediately following the tragic murders at a school in Parkland, Florida.
Not all of these laws are anti-freedom, but the vast majority are. Is your liberty at risk? You be the judge.
From the article (edited to fix typos):
In all, 123 new laws were enacted in the 364 days since the Parkland tragedy, according to data collected by the Associated Press. Below is a list of them all, organized by state.
State: Description
Alabama: Allows retired Baldwin County Sheriff’s office employees to receive a free firearm from the department
Alabama: Exempts retired law enforcement officers from an existing law that prohibits people from bringing firearms into certain venues, such as courthouses, health care facilities, and sports arenas
Alabama: Bars sheriffs from putting conditions on specific pistol permits, such as time constraints
Arizona: Exempts firearms worth not more than $2,000 from being taken to pay bankruptcy debts – calling them personal, family or household items
Arizona: Exempts all state and federal law enforcement officers from restrictions on carrying guns
Arizona: Requires courts to register injunctions against harassment and protection orders with the NCIC database within 24 hours of the filing; critics worry it will take away gun rights for those in disputes
Arizona: Changes the process for setting aside convictions, which can result in the restoration of firearms rights.
Arizona: Requires Department of Public Safety to submit a report to the governor and legislature each year on whether changes were made to reciprocity rules for concealed carry permits with other states
Arizona: Allows off-duty police officers to carry guns into bars and liquor stores
California: Exempts honorably retired police officers from the state ban on large-capacity magazine ownership
California: Adds harbor or port district agencies to a list of law enforcement groups exempt from a ban on certain “unsafe handguns”
California: Adds a toolbox or utility box as a place in a vehicle where people can lock handguns
California: Awaiting governor’s decision. Permanently bars gun ownership by those hospitalized for suicide prevention twice in one year.
California: Awaiting governor’s decision. Raises the age for buying rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21, same as the current requirement for handguns.
California: Awaiting governor’s decision. Sets tougher standards for obtaining a concealed weapons permit.
Colorado: Strengthens the crime of burglary of firearms to a class 3 felony and increase the minimum fine to $5,000.
Connecticut: Ban on bump stocks
Delaware: Increases to a Class E felony the crime of “straw purchases” for unqualified gun owners, making jail time more likely
Delaware: Creates lethal violence protection orders that can be sought by law enforcement or family members to temporarily strip firearms from individuals who are a danger to themselves or others
Delaware: Ban on bump stocks
Delaware: Sets out procedures for seizing firearms and ammunition from individuals who are mentally ill and potentially dangerous to self or others
Florida: Requires the Department of Law Enforcement to allow firearms licensees to pay background check fees electronically, including by credit cards and funds transfers
Florida: Shields the name of people giving tips to law enforcement; closes some meetings of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission; shields the identities of school safety officers
Georgia: Increases penalties for the crimes of theft of firearms, transferring firearms to prohibited persons, using an altered identification mark on a firearm
Georgia: Increases criminal penalties to people who knowingly give guns to ineligible felons
Hawaii: Ban on bump stocks
Hawaii: Requires those who are disqualified from gun ownership to voluntarily surrender their firearms and ammunition within 7 days
Iowa: Allows people to openly carry firearms while operating or riding in snowmobiles and ATVs
Idaho: Encourages school boards to establish firearms safety education courses for primary and secondary school students
Idaho: Allows retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons in otherwise restricted places like schools and stadiums
Idaho: Expands the “Stand Your Ground” law
Idaho: Allows retired attorneys to teach enhanced concealed weapons courses
Illinois: Creates firearms restraining orders. Family or household members and police can petition to temporarily strip gun rights from those who are potentially dangerous
Illinois: Expands the 72-hour waiting period for handguns to all guns
Illinois: Authorizes state regulation of firearms dealers
Indiana: Clarifies requirement that child care providers keep firearms, ammunition and other weapons in places that are inaccessible to children
Kansas: Bars fugitives, immigrants illegally in the U.S., persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence within the last 5 years, and persons subject to restraining orders from possessing weapons
Kentucky: Increases penalties for possession of a firearm by a felon when the felon commits a gun crime
Louisiana: Adds the possibility of “hard labor” to the sentence for the crime of illegally supplying a felon with a firearm
Louisiana: Clarifies that retired officers who resigned amid a serious misconduct investigation are ineligible for concealed carry IDs
Louisiana: Requires school safety plans to include parental notification procedures in the event of a shooting or other emergency situation
Louisiana: Allows persons with concealed handgun permits to carry within 1,000 feet of schools
Louisiana: Exempts former lawmakers from the crime of illegal carrying of weapons, as long as they are qualified annually
Louisiana: Defendants who are the subject of stalking protective orders are prohibited from possessing guns while it’s in effect
Louisiana: Makes it illegal for prohibited gun owners to bring firearms to hospitals
Louisiana: Makes clear that possessing, carrying or purchasing a firearm is a violation of a protective order; increases penalty for fraudulent purchases or ammunition to up to 20 years in prison; creates the crime of illegal transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person
Louisiana: Allows churches to designate armed security guards who are authorized to carry concealed weapons
Louisiana: Changes state law to match federal law and declare that anyone who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity automatically loses the right to possess firearms; they can petition for review after 10 years.
Massachusetts: Creates extreme risk protection orders law
Maryland: Changes the process for appealing denials of handgun permits before the Handgun Permit Review Board, makes the board subject to the open meetings law
Maryland: Those who are guilty of a second violation of illegally carrying a concealed handgun will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 1 year in prison
Maryland: Allows police, family or household members, and health care professionals to seek extreme risk protective orders for those who are considered dangerous
Maryland: Requires written notice to defendants who are charged and convicted of crimes that will disqualify them from possessing guns; requires courts to order the defendants to surrender all firearms in their possession
Maryland: Revises the “crime of violence” to include all gun crimes, not just handguns; other changes
Maryland: Bans bump stocks
Missouri: Allows individuals convicted of illegally carrying concealed before 2017 to apply for an order to expunge the records
North Carolina: Creates a statewide referendum in November on whether to amend state constitution to protect the right to hunt and fish
Nebraska: Changes provisions for petitioning to get firearms rights restored by those who have mental health disabilities
Nebraska: Exempts members of college firearm teams from law banning firearms on school grounds
Nebraska: Exempts any government records related to “firearm registration, possession, sale or use” from the public records law
Nebraska: Prohibits juveniles who have been adjudicated of certain crimes from possessing firearms until age 25, with some exceptions
New Hampshire: Allows carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun, muzzleloader or air rifle on a stationary motor vehicle, snowmobile, or aircraft; defines air rifle and allows hunting with a muzzleloader, crossbow or air rifle
New Jersey: Bans bump stocks, trigger cranks and gives owners 90- days to surrender them
New Jersey: Requires licensed health care professionals to tell law enforcement about patients who they believe may carry out an imminent act of physical violence; law enforcement then must investigate to determine whether the person should be disqualified from having them
New Jersey: Establishes procedures for police and family/household members to obtain extreme risk protective orders against persons who pose a significant danger
New Jersey: Requires background checks on all private sales and transfers of firearms, except those involving “immediate family”
New Jersey: Codifies a strict definition of the “justifiable need to carry a handgun” that private citizens must show in order to get a permit
New Jersey: Adopts the federal definition of armor piercing ammunition and makes it a crime to possess or manufacture it
New Jersey: Bans firearm magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition (up to 15 had been legal previously)
New Mexico: Increases the penalty for a felon in possession of a firearm or destructive device
New York: Adds misdemeanor domestic violence crimes to the list of those that forfeit gun rights; requires long guns to be surrendered just like handguns in cases involving protection orders and conviction of serious offenses
Ohio: Expands civil protection orders to dating partners; those subject to the orders may not buy firearms
Ohio: Allows “tactical medical professionals” such as EMTs, nurses and physicians to get training and carry firearms while on duty
Oklahoma: Clarifies that retired officers can carry firearms “throughout” the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma: Gives citizens the right to carry in places of worship and use deadly force to protect against intruders
Oklahoma: Allows sheriffs to charge up to $25 for fingerprinting handgun license applicants
Oklahoma: Allows eligible people to carry a handgun while scouting
Oklahoma: Allows correctional officers to keep or buy their service guns upon retirement
Oklahoma: Allows sheriffs and county boards to authorize employees to carry concealed handguns while working in courthouses
Oregon: Makes a stalking conviction a crime which causes a gun rights prohibition; requires state police to notify federal, state and local agencies when somebody fails a background check; extends state’s handgun dealer regulations to all firearm dealers
Oregon: Clarifies reporting requirements when law enforcement receives reports that a person bought a firearm despite being disqualified from doing so
Pennsylvania: requiring those convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence or subject to protective orders to give up their guns within 24 hours.
Rhode Island: Bans bump stocks, binary triggers and trigger cranks; makes it a crime to possess them
Rhode Island: Directs the state attorney general to report annually on the incidents and disposition of gun crimes
Rhode Island: Allows law enforcement agencies to petition for “extreme risk protection orders” allowing the removal of firearms from those who are a significant danger
South Dakota: Allows sheriffs to issue “temporary restricted enhanced permits to carry a concealed pistol” to people between ages 18 and 20
South Dakota: Requires applicants for a concealed carry license to pass a federal background check
South Dakota: Allows people to carry guns for self-defense in private schools and churches
Tennessee: Applicants for handgun carry permits are exempted from firing range and classroom hours requirements if they’ve completed a department of corrections firearms qualification in the last five years
Tennessee: Clarifies that retired officers qualifying for special lifetime handgun carry permits must have retired in good standing
Tennessee: Expands the definition of domestic violence crimes that result in the loss of gun rights
Tennessee: Blocks municipalities from charging anyone with a crime if they discharge a firearm in self-defense or defense of another, defense of property, or to stop a crime from occurring
Tennessee: Allows county commissioners who have permits to carry handguns in buildings in which the commission meetings are held
Tennessee: Authorizes people, businesses and governments to allow concealed carry of handguns on their property while prohibiting other weapons or the open carry of firearms; establishes posting requirements for “concealed firearms by permit only” signs
Tennessee: Allows some people whose gun rights have been restored to qualify for handgun carry permits; allows current and former members of the military who are 18 to be eligible for permits
Tennessee: Allows law enforcement agencies to offer gun safety classes or programs for elementary school students, as long as they don’t use live ammunition or live fire
Tennessee: Authorizes community corrections officers in several counties to carry handguns while on duty
Tennessee: Requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to contact local law enforcement where a person who has been adjudicated as mentally defective attempts to purchase a firearm
Tennessee: Allows uniformed TBI officers who retire after 25 years of service to receive a card and the officer’s service weapon
Tennessee: Allows off-duty law enforcement officers to serve as armed school security officers and spells out related procedures
Utah: Expands “stand your ground”
Utah: Expands the definition of domestic violence crimes that trigger the loss of gun rights
Virginia: Authorizes special “STOP GUN VIOLENCE” license plates
Virginia: Minors who are 14 and older and subject to mental health treatment are subject to same restrictions on possessing firearms as adults
Virginia: Clarifies that retired law enforcement officers shall surrender their special handgun permits when they return to work as a law-enforcement officer
Vermont: Increases penalties for carrying dangerous weapons with intent to injure; increases penalties for possessing a firearm while on school property
Vermont: Lets police seize firearms from people who are arrested for domestic assault under certain circumstances
Vermont: Establishes a school safety advisory group to develop guidelines and best practices to prevent school shootings
Vermont: Requires background checks on most private firearms sales; raise buying age with some exceptions to 21; bans high-capacity magazines at 10 rounds for a long gun or 15 for a handgun; bans bump stocks
Vermont: Allows state and local prosecutors to seek extreme risk protection orders
Washington: Persons who are subject to extreme risk protection orders, sexual assault protection orders and stalking protection orders are ineligible for a concealed pistol license; police may not return concealed pistol licenses that have been surrendered until they ensure they are eligible
Washington: Allows anyone to file voluntary waivers of their firearm rights with the clerk of court in any county
Washington: Makes it a crime to manufacture, sell or possess bump-fire stocks; establishes a buyback program
Washington: Adds domestic violence harassment to the list of offenses for which a person is prohibited from possessing firearms
Wisconsin: Creates a mandatory minimum 3-year prison term for the illegal possession of a firearm by certain offenders
Wisconsin: Creates the crime of purchasing a firearm with the intent to transfer to a prohibited person, “straw purchasing.”
West Virginia: Allows state attorney general investigators and reserve sheriff’s deputies to carry concealed while on duty
West Virginia: Bars business owners from prohibiting customers and employees from possessing legally owned firearms under certain circumstances; prohibits them from barring legal guns in their cars in the parking lot; provides immunity and liability limits
West Virginia: Allows people to carry concealed weapons at private and secondary schools that have policies allowing firearms; allows retired law-enforcement officers to posses firearms at schools under certain conditions
West Virginia: Awards service weapons to natural resources police officers when they retire, and allows old ones to be sold to current officers at fair market value
Wyoming: Allows people to carry concealed weapons in churches and other houses of worship
Wyoming: Expands stand your ground provisions
